Mirrored vanity desk

Jule inherited an old piece of furniture which she deftly upgraded into a mirrored vanity. Guess mirrors and vanity do go well together.

Jule says, “I was given an old student desk which my parents bought at a garage sale before I was born. I never liked it, but it was really functional as a vanity in my bedroom. So, one day it occurred to me that it had the right shape to convert into a piece of mirrored furniture.

So, I went to Ikea for mirrors (Lots mirrors: 4 pack for $5) and new knobs (Antik: 2 pack for $5). A few cans of spray paint and some black grout from Home Depot (I was afraid to drill through the mirror, so I left a space for the knobs and filled it with grout.) All totaled it was about a $50 investment. Not including the chair, which I got the Borje chair from the “As Is” department at Ikea for $30 (the white upholstery was dirty, but nothing that a little cleaning didn’t resolve.)

I am pleased with the results and even my husband who hates mirrored furniture likes it.

Instructions:
· Remove knobs
· Lightly sand surface (especially the top which was damaged)
· Spray paint with glossy black paint
· Measure and cut mirrors using a mirror cutter (it take a lot of practice – my price includes the 3 tiles I destroyed trying to figure out how to cut it. Then my husband figured it out on the 1st try, so I made him cut the rest.)
· Adhere the mirror with liquid nails made for mirrors
· Fill the seams with black grout
· Put on new hardware

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Jules Yap "I am Jules, the engine behind IKEAHackers and the one who keeps this site up and running. My mission is to capture all the wonderful, inspiring, clever hacks and ideas for our much loved IKEA items".

35 Responses to Mirrored vanity desk

Hi Jule,I recently stayed at a hotel in Chicago and the main focus in the room was a mirrored desk. Gorgeous as it was, I fell in love. Since that time I have been looking for something similar for my home. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find something comparable in my price range. Now that I have seen the amazing transformation you were able to accomplish I have decided to try to ‘mirror’ your efforts. My local thrift store has a desk in the style I have been looking for. I have purchased it and plan to start my project this weekend. Wish me luck!

@anon: I am guessing because they used ’tiles’ (not full sheets of mirror) the mirror portions used for facing i.e. the drawers; was cut in two separate pieces. Thus, there was a space between each that was grouted and the hole for the handle was drilled in that area. -Brenda-

I am the aforementioned husband…and have some answers for how we accomplished some things. To cut the mirror we spent $5 at Home depot on a glass cutter. The biggest trick there is to make ONE cut putting plenty of pressure on the cutter when doing so (oh, and making a straight line). This took some practice, but once we got the technique it was a snap. The cutters directions wanted you to use some special oil (we read online that you could use cooking oil, which we tried)…however, we were never successful with the oil, so I recommend skipping it altogehter once you get the wheel spinning.

As for the knobs, as mentioned, we did not drill through the middle of the glass and instead just left a space inbetween and threaded the knob screw through and grouted around it. I will say it is totally funcitonal but probably not the most secure (but she has never had a problem with it!)

For those who want to drill a hole in mirror or plain glass, you just need to keep the glass from rapidly heating up, by running a steady stream of water over the glass or working (slower) underwater. I use a Dremel with a flex-shaft extension to keep the motor away from the water. A tapered diamond wheel point or silicon carbide grinding stone bit works well. Put the glass on a flat piece of wood with the mirror backing facing up. The backing scratches easily so dont place anything on it. Turn the dremel on to full speed and work slowly, kinda tapping at the hole. It should take one or two minutes to grind a hole. Oh and use the water stream to clean off the glass particles, wiping could scratch the backing.

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